


gyuwon | boys in city

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Category: Super Junior
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Gyuwon, Wonkyu, listen they’d have a great time in chicago, non-au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 23:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: Siwon spends his day off wandering Chicago with Kyuhyun. Or, the memories behind the refrigerator magnets.





	gyuwon | boys in city

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the AU where Super Junior actually come to the United States for SS8.

Siwon’s alarm goes off far too early, but he reaches over to turn on the light on the nightstand. He blinks a few times, adjusting to the bright glare, before grabbing his phone to turn off the alarm. The display reads 05:30, only a half hour to get ready before meeting Kyuhyun downstairs.

He quickly showers, shaves, and dresses before spending a few minutes in prayer to orient himself for the rest of the day. His routine never varies, no matter what country he’s in. Time to pray, time to read Scripture, and time to attend church if possible. 

But today is a Monday, and he’s downstairs in the lobby of their hotel at 05:59, waiting for Kyuhyun to appear. He does exactly one minute later, and Siwon hides a smile. Over the years, he has learned that there are two Kyuhyuns in the morning: First, there is bleary-eyed, grumpy Kyuhyun who is usually tardy for their early morning schedules. But second, there is bright-eyed, excited Kyuhyun who wakes at the crack of dawn, determined not to waste one minute of his day off. It’s the second Kyuhyun who greets him today, face breaking into a smile when he sees Siwon. They had invited the others along to explore the city with them, but they had all declined when Kyuhyun had told them to be in the lobby by six. 

_ “Six? The day after a performance?” _ Ryeowook had asked.

_ “There’s no way in hell,”  _ Heechul had said, not that anyone had been expecting him to leave the hotel period during their stay.

But Siwon had jumped at the chance. He’s always loved exploring new cities, and Kyuhyun is an excellent tour guide. Besides, it seems like they’ve hardly gotten to spend time together lately on account of being so busy. Siwon enjoys being busy doing things that he enjoys, but he does miss spending time with the people he enjoys too. 

“Ready?” Kyuhyun asks, zipping up his parka. He’s got a mask over his face, a beanie on his head, and mittens sticking out of his pocket. Siwon is dressed similarly, but neither of them are sure they’re truly prepared for the weather.

“Ready,” Siwon replies, and he pushes open the door, letting in a big gust of cold air. 

Whoever said Chicago winters were similar to the winters in Seoul must have been mistaken because both boys are shivering by the time the bus arrives to take them into the Loop. They swipe their transit cards that their manager had acquired for them yesterday and join a pack of commuters heading downtown to start the work week. Siwon wonders what it would be like to be one of them: working in an office at the standard 9 to 5, living a “normal” life. They’ve all talked about this before, numerous times. Had they not become idols, Siwon would have gone into business with his father, and Kyuhyun would have gone to law school.

_ “I can’t see you as a businessman,” _ Kyuhyun had told him once.

_ “What do you mean? Of course he’d be a chaebol,” _ Hyukjae had said with a snort.

But Kyuhyun had shrugged.  _ “You wouldn’t enjoy climbing the corporate ladder in pursuit of more money and power,” _ he’d said, his voice genuine.  _ “You’re too warm-hearted to spend your days crunching numbers and planning corporate strategy.” _

He’d been right, but no one had said it quite like Kyuhyun before. The minute the others had found out that he’d come from wealth, they’d all joked about it incessantly. Siwon had learned to laugh about it, but over time, the questions as to why he’d gone into entertainment instead of business had grown wearisome. 

But Kyuhyun had understood. Kyuhyun had always understood. He had also come from a fairly wealthy family, and his parents hadn’t been too pleased with his aspirations of becoming a singer. They’d commiserated over that one more than one occasion.

The bus drops them off in the heart of the city, and Kyuhyun leads them a few blocks east so they can see the river. It’s not as wide as the Han River back home, but it’s cool to see the different buildings lining the river’s edge. They watch some of the early morning boats pass under the bridges, heading out for the lake. 

Siwon inhales the morning air and exhales, sending white puffs into the air. He does it again for effect, and Kyuhyun chuckles, pulling down his mask to watch his own breath crystallize before his eyes. Siwon pulls his phone out of his pocket and snaps a photo. It’s memories like these that he never wants to forget.

They walk along the riverside until they find a café that Kyuhyun looked up earlier. After finding a table and divesting themselves of their ample winter gear, Siwon gets a coffee, Kyuhyun orders a mug of hot water, and they start to pour over the menu. Kyuhyun’s eyebrows furrow as he studies the menu for a few minutes before handing it over to Siwon.

“I hate English,” he says for the umpteenth time that trip, but Siwon just chuckles. Kyuhyun claims to hate English constantly, but he’s actually gotten quite good at it in the past few years. 

Siwon chooses some dishes for them to share, and soon they’re tucking into a veritable spread of American breakfast foods. It reminds Siwon of what he usually eats on his trips to New York, and Kyuhyun seems to enjoy all of his choices. 

“Hot food,” he says, voicing his approval around a mouthful of waffle. Siwon just smiles.

Breakfast finished, they bundle up again to head back out into the cold. The wind whips through the streets, and Siwon pulls his parka more tightly around himself. They really should have planned their tour dates for warm weather destinations in the winter months, he thinks. Kyuhyun seems fairly unbothered as he hustles them both across the river and down towards Millennium Park.

They stop in front of the signature monument and gawk. 

“It’s a  [ giant bean ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Gate) ,” Siwon says.

“Yes,” Kyuhyun replies.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

They stand in front of the giant reflective piece and take a variety of photos of their reflections, twisting their faces into hilarious expressions that maximize the mirrors’ effects. Being that it’s both early and a weekday in the winter, the tourist attraction isn’t as cluttered with tourists as they had expected, but they still find a kind soul to take photos for them. Siwon straightens his jacket before reaching out to pull Kyuhyun close. They pose, and the photographer snaps a few shots before handing Siwon’s phone back to him.

“I like that,” Kyuhyun says. “Send it to me when we get back to the hotel.”

Siwon promises that he will.

By the time they make it over to the Willis Tower (“Locals refer to it as the Sears Tower,” Kyuhyun informs him as they pay for their tickets to the skydeck), the sky has brightened considerably though the sun has yet to break through the cloud cover. The elevator brings them up the tall building and deposits them onto the skydeck, giving them a gorgeous view of the entire city. It’s laid out much different than Seoul is. The city is stopped by the lake on the east side but stretches for miles out west. 

Siwon watches as Kyuhyun takes a photo from nearly every angle, completely in his element. He knows that Kyuhyun loves to travel and explore new places and that their schedules rarely allow them to actually enjoy the places they see. It’s all work, but today is a nice reprieve.

They spend the rest of the morning poking around the Art Institute and buying overpriced souvenirs at the museum shop. Siwon can tell that Kyuhyun is starting to get bored after they walk through yet another special exhibit, but he tells Siwon to take all the time he wants. “It’s your one day off for the entire year,” he says. “I want you to enjoy it.”

Siwon thinks that spending time with Kyuhyun is always enjoyable.

They try deep dish pizza for lunch, and both decide that it isn’t worth the hype. Siwon announces that he prefers New York style pizza, and Kyuhyun agrees. “You’ve never had pizza in New York,” Siwon protests.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t prefer it!”

“Actually, it does!”

They bicker about it, but they’re both smiling at the ridiculousness of it all. It’s freeing, being in a foreign country where no one really recognizes them. It’s rare to have that chance, and Siwon doesn’t mind it. Besides, he’s not sure their own mothers could recognize them with the amount of winter gear they have on.

They hit some of the other big tourist spots during the afternoon. The weather has warmed up slightly, but it’s still freezing. Kyuhyun’s cheeks are pink above his mask, and Siwon is sure his look the same.

“I shouldn’t have shaved off my beard,” he moans as a particularly wicked wind blows past them.

“Yes, you should have,” Kyuhyun replies, and Siwon sees him smile. 

Kyuhyun had spent the better part of their downtime on the tour so far researching the history of each new city they’ve visited, and all of that hard work pays off as Kyuhyun becomes Siwon’s tour guide for the afternoon. He explains the history of the city and of different buildings they pass. The architecture varies so much from building to building, but Kyuhyun has a set of facts for each one. It’s nice: Kyuhyun does most of the talking, giving Siwon time to take in the sights. 

Kyuhyun’s voice has always been one of his favorites, even when he’s not singing. When Kyuhyun had announced that he would be working at a library for the blind making audiobooks during his service, Siwon couldn’t think of anything more fitting.  _ “Those citizens are going to be so grateful for all of your hard work,” _ Siwon had told him more than once, and each time Kyuhyun had perked up significantly. It had been no secret that his service period had been trying, and Siwon had done his best to give Kyuhyun all of the encouragement he could offer.

After all, Kyuhyun had spent the first half of his enlistment period giving Siwon the strength to continue after his own world had come crashing down. They’d spent hours upon hours together during that time. Talking, not talking, crying, not crying, and facing the future together. Siwon had been grateful that Kyuhyun hadn’t been promoting with the others, and in the end, Kyuhyun had said the same. 

By the time the sun sets, they’ve made their way down to Chinatown. It’s barely five o’clock, but the sky is already darkening. The joys of winter, they surmise. Here they do run into a few fans who had attended the concert the night before. They pose for a few selfies, but thankfully nobody asks them to shrug off their mittens to give autographs. Everyone is far too cold for that.

They settle into a back booth in a restaurant that looks good and order an excessive amount of food. The pizza they hadn’t finished earlier had been far from sufficient, and Siwon feels his stomach growl as the waiter walks by with a dish for someone else. 

“It’s funny,” he says, “coming all the way to America to eat Chinese food.”

The corners of Kyuhyun’s mouth twitch into a smile. “I guess it is,” he says. 

The food that arrives is much more familiar than most of what they’ve eaten on this trip. The members have all been grousing about gaining weight, but Kyuhyun always says it’s part of the travel experience.  _ “You can’t enjoy a place without trying the food!” _ he’ll say.

Siwon likes seeing him eat well. They’d all spent a lot of time before the comeback dieting, and Kyuhyun, like usual, had been on the verge of getting sick the entire time. That cycle had always seemed to repeat: excessive dieting, falling sick, recovery, repeat. They all worry about Kyuhyun whenever he gets sick, but Siwon always feels a special obligation to ensure he’s okay. It's a holdover from the accident, he knows, but he still feels regretful about that entire time.

Siwon had spent a lot of time in China during those first few years, as well as guesting on other shows and promoting with Han Geng, and as a result hadn’t really gotten to know Kyuhyun at all before the accident. The others hadn’t been much help either on account of everyone hating him at the time. They’d all been so stupid back then, but the accident really had changed everything. Everything had been so fragile, and the accidents had nearly destroyed them all. It had been one of the first times death had come so close to any of them, and nobody had really known how to handle it back then. 

He remembers Kyuhyun trudging into the practice room during their preparations for their long-awaited second album. He’d looked like death warmed over, but he hadn’t really had a choice on whether or not he had been ready to return. The company had said it’s time, and Kyuhyun hadn’t been able to argue.

That had been the first time they’d really gotten to know each other, and those moments Siwon had spent helping Kyuhyun limp to a chair after dancing even for a brief amount of time had formed the basis of their friendship: mutual trust and support. 

“What?” Kyuhyun says, his voice breaking into Siwon’s reverie. It’s only then that Siwon realizes he was staring at Kyuhyun, zoning off into his own little world.

“Just thinking,” he says. “We’ve known each other a long time.”

Kyuhyun nods. “Fourteen years,” he replies. 

Fourteen years. Nearly half a lifetime.

Another dish is placed on the table, and the two dig in with gusto.

“Now this,” Kyuhyun says, “this reminds me of what we’d always beg Zhou Mi to order for us when we were in China. Remember? We could never remember the name, and we’d always have to bother him until he’d help us.”

Siwon does remember. They'd spent most of their free time in China eating. He remembers coming home after a long stint abroad and showing the other members photos of their time. A solid half of the photos had been of food alone, and the others had all teased them relentlessly for that until they too had tasted the bounty China had to offer. Siwon misses China, but being here with Kyuhyun is a pretty decent substitute.

They eat until they're comfortable stuffed and warm. Siwon feels more relaxed than he has in months. There's something about good food and good people that always eases the anxiety in his chest. 

“Alright,” Kyuhyun says once the bill has been paid. “We’ve got one more stop before heading back.”

“Yes sir, Tour Guide Cho,” Siwon says in mock salute. Kyuhyun just rolls his eyes as they zip their parkas back up to brace the weather. They take the train back into the main part of the city, marveling as the elevated train turns into a subway. The American trains are all so different, Siwon has realized. He's finally gotten the hang of the New York subways, he thinks, now that he's spent enough time in the city. He's been working a lot in the States lately with only more projects coming in the future. He likes being able to expand his horizons and try new things with new people, and this trip to Chicago has only heightened that. 

They disembark from the train at one of the underground stops and climb the escalator back up to the street level. Here, the entire city is lit up to counteract the darkness of the night. The brightness of the streetlights and the office buildings reflects off the river, making the city look magical. Kyuhyun leans over the side of the bridge, trying to snap the best photo of the scenery without dropping his phone. Once he’s determined his photos are adequate, he straightens up and pulls Siwon in.

“Come on, let’s take a selfie.”

Siwon leans in, and Kyuhyun snaps the photo. They've taken thousands of photos like this, but for Siwon, each one is precious. 

They take an Uber back to their hotel and find the others lounging around their hotel rooms. Siwon removes his gloves and wiggles his fingers to restore circulation. His face feels chapped from the day in the cold, and he knows he'll have to slather on an entire tub of moisturizer tonight, but it's worth it for the time he'd gotten to spend with Kyuhyun. With just Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun who is always so genuine and kind, Kyuhyun whose friendship has sustained him through hell and back, and Kyuhyun who is now pulling a paper bag out of his backpack.

“Here,” he says, handing the bag to Siwon. “For you.”

Siwon looks at him quizzically but reaches into the bag. He pulls out several different refrigerator magnets from the places they had visited today, and he gives Kyuhyun an inquisitive look. "When did you buy all of these?" he asks.

Kyuhyun shrugs. “When you were in the bathroom.”

Siwon's heart swells, and the smile on his face only broadens as he examines each new magnet to add to his collection. A good third of the magnets on his fridge have come from Kyuhyun, and these new ones will have a place of honor among them. Because each new magnet Kyuhyun has brought back for him reminds Siwon that someone is thinking about him, even from far away. And for Siwon, there's no better feeling than loving and being loved in return.

“Thanks,” he says. 

“You’re welcome,” Kyuhyun replies. He gives Siwon a smile before suppressing a yawn. It’s been a long day, albeit a good one.

They bid goodnight to the other members, and everyone heads back to their respective rooms. Siwon washes up and neatly packs his things into his suitcase. They have an early flight to Los Angeles the next morning, followed by a full day of rehearsals for the next show, and he knows he should try to get as much sleep as possible. But instead, he sits in bed scrolling through the photos they took today, grinning at the screen.

There’s a knock at the door, and Siwon opens it to Kyuhyun standing in the hall, freshly showered. “Do you still have my portable charger?” he asks.

“I think so,” Siwon says, opening the door for him to step through.

He walks over to where his bag is sitting on the desk and rummages through to find the device. Kyuhyun follows him, looking around at the suite’s decor. 

“Here you go,” Siwon says. He hands him the charger with a smile. “Sorry, I forgot that I took it.”

“Thanks,” Kyuhyun says, but he doesn’t turn to go. He fiddles with the charger for a moment before blurting out, “You know I miss you when you’re in America, right?” He looks up at Siwon with eyes filled with sincerity and affection. “It’s just not the same when you’re more than a five minute’s drive from the dorms.”

Siwon’s heart cracks into pieces, but before he can respond, Kyuhyun continues.

“I want you to keep doing what you love, all of this acting stuff in Hollywood and the UNICEF projects and everything else,” Kyuhyun says before his voice drops down to a whisper. “But don’t forget about me back in Korea.”

Siwon reaches out to pull Kyuhyun into a hug. “Even if we lived a thousand years, I could never forget you, Cho Kyuhyun.”

“Cheesy,” Kyuhyun grumbles, but he hugs back.

Siwon falls asleep that night with a smile on his face. His alarm will go off far too early, he’ll spend too long debating on whether or not he can go to the airport in his pajamas, and then he’ll stumble out into the lobby to meet the others. He’ll see Kyuhyun who will lean against him and fall asleep standing up, the complete opposite of this morning’s bright, exuberant Kyuhyun. They’ll board the plane, and both will fall asleep the minute they sit down, dreaming of what the future may bring. 

It’s one of the best miracles of Siwon’s life, getting to live this life with Kyuhyun, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love! 💕 
> 
> Find me on [twitter](%E2%80%9Ctwitter.com/plincess_cho%E2%80%9D) here.


End file.
